The Bruins offseason shakeup that has seen departures of both on- and off-ice personnel continued Tuesday as the club announced some significant comings, goings and elevations in the front office.
The team officially announced that former Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams signed on as a senior advisor to general manager Don Sweeney while it also announced that now former assistant general manager Evan Gold is leaving the organization to “pursue other opportunities in the National Hockey League,” effective Aug. 1.
The Bruins also promoted a couple of long-time members of the hockey operations, bumping up Dennis Bonvie to assistant general manager for player personnel after serving as director of pro scouting since the 2022-23 season. He was a pro scout with the Bruins for seven years prior to that.
Jeremy Rogalski was named assistant general manager for analytics and strategy after serving as director of hockey analytics since 2017.
The Bruins also hired Alex Giminez for the newly created position of director of hockey operations, collective bargaining agreement. He will be responsible for contract negotiations, salary cap management, CBA compliance and player acquisition strategy. He had worked with the PWHL since October but had previously spent more than a decade in the Red Sox front office, serving most recently as assistant director of major league operations and pro scouting.
“As we continue to build our staff, these changes recognize the hard work and growth of people within our organization while also adding experienced voices to our group,” said Sweeney in a club release. “I’m confident Kevyn, Dennis, Jeremy and Alex will each play an important role as we continue to improve our team both this upcoming season and beyond. I’d also like to thank Evan for his contributions over the past several seasons. He has been a valued member of our Hockey Operations Department, and we appreciate everything he has done for our organization. We wish Evan and his family all the best as he pursues his next opportunity in the National Hockey League.”
Boston Bruins CEO and Alternate Governor Charlie Jacobs, president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney, left to right, speak during this year’s end-of-season press conference at TD Garden. (Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald) (Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald)
It has been an offseason of change in the Bruins front office. Former assistant general manager Jamie Langenbrunner also left the organization recently and has since joined the Nashville Predators front office as an advisor. Both Langenbrunner and Gold had interviewed for various general manager jobs this offseason. Gold had been a finalist for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ general manager job that eventually went to John Chayka.
As a player, Adams was originally drafted by the Bruins in the first round in 1993 but never signed here. He went on to play 540 NHL games with six different organizations, winning a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. He was the Sabres’ general manager from 2020-25 and his teams had never made the playoffs with him at the helm. But after he was fired last December, the team that Adams had built finally turned a corner under new general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, breaking a 14-year playoff drought and beating the Bruins in the first round. Kekalainen had been brought on board as an advisor for the Sabres last offseason.
Adams has already had some input into the makeup of the 2026-27 Bruins with the acquisition of J.J. Peterka at the draft. The Bruins traded for the 24-year-old forward, who tallied 25 goals and 22 assists for 47 points during the 2025-26 season with the Utah Mammoth, in exchange for two first-round picks. Regarding Peterka, Sweeney called Adams “a resource” at the time of the acquisition.
In his pre-draft presser in June, Sweeney said that he’d be looking outside the organization for some new blood.
“I think that’s healthy to continue to bring people in with a different perspective, a new voice, and see things differently than maybe we are,” Sweeney said.
Meanwhile, the club made a significant tweak to Marco Sturm’s coaching staff as former assistant Jay Leach left the organization and was hired as the head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) and Matt McIlvane, who had coached under Sturm in Germany, was hired to take his place.
The Bruins are also in the market for a new head coach of the Providence Bruins after Ryan Mougenel left to become an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks.